This was a really good…try. Bellows Air Force Rec facility does great squadron picnics and events and stuff, and it’s right on the water between Lanikai and Waimanalo. So when we heard they were doing Snowfest with TWELVE TONS OF SNOW, hot chocolate, pictures with Santa, and shave ice, we were there almost as soon…
Snowfest 2017
Thanksgiving, With Love
I love military thanksgivings! “Can I bring sweet potatoes? I have to have sweet potatoes,” said Cary. “Casey will make green beans,” Michelle offered for her daughter. “I’ll make pies.” “I’ll bring Brussels sprouts, a corn dish, and more green beans. So…vegetables,” Vanessa said. Molly brought smoked turkey, fried turkey, baked turkey, gravy, and a…
Lulumahu vs. Hamama Falls
Jungle, stunning waterfalls, wild flowers, the mountains, the sea—hiking in Hawaii is high reward for relatively little effort. I did these short hikes with friends recently, and I even took Isaac back to do the shorter, more challenging one together while Eloise was at school and he was on Fall Break. Future visitors, if you…
Veterans Day at the Pacific Aviation Museum
The Pacific Aviation Museum hosted a lecture on the effects of WWI on Hawaii. So interesting, right? “Mom, I don’t know very much about World War I. How did it start? Will there be a World War III?” Isaac asked at the breakfast table. Oh my word, the question of the hour. We met up with…
Threenager
“You are ruining my LIFE. That makes me very sad! You ruined it. YOU RUINED IT! WAAAAAAH!” My threenager did not want to get out of the Target cart and into the car with milk, half n’ half, and the blueberries she specially requested with an adorably sweet smile all of 10 minutes ago in…
All Hallows’ Eve Hawaii
It was hot and humid, even for the tropics. Eloise was tired and floppy, and—most surprisingly—declining to trick-or-treat anymore, even with easy pickings. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. “Mommy, I needa take it off.” And with that, her plastic sparkly spider-girl tutu dress came off. It was soaked with sweat, the poor baby. She’d…
Pumpkin heads
“What is all that GIGGLING?” Isaac demanded from outside the kitchen window where he was hacking at a tiny pumpkin. I hunched over the sink with a knife and a pineapple. Had I been giggling this whole time? With a flourish, I presented my Pineapp-O-Lantern. The kids looked at the pineapple. They looked at me….